I have always been a relatively active person. I ran track in high school. I continued to work out on a semi regular basis and really stepped it up after 22 when I had my first baby. I went for walks regularly with my son in a stroller and found the Firm tapes. I think the weight lifting and aerobic activity really preserved my lean muscle mass. I gained 50 lbs during both of my pregnancies but dropped pretty quickly both times to the 160-165 range. I have hovered in this range during most ...

I have always been a relatively active person. I ran track in high school. I continued to work out on a semi regular basis and really stepped it up after 22 when I had my first baby. I went for walks regularly with my son in a stroller and found the Firm tapes. I think the weight lifting and aerobic activity really preserved my lean muscle mass. I gained 50 lbs during both of my pregnancies but dropped pretty quickly both times to the 160-165 range. I have hovered in this range during most of my adult life. I fell under the 160 mark two years ago when I changed jobs for the first time in 16 years. Veeery stressful! I have experienced a wide range of disordered eating throughout. My amount of physical activity and working out, sometimes obsessive, allowed me to stay at a baseline maintenance weight during this time. I have binged wildly most of my life always trying to compensate with insane diets or near starvation. I have felt on the brink of madness during those black years. I would say the worst years were when I was between 23 and 35. All this time I quested, quested, quested as to why I behaved this way and read every book I could get my hands on to help me in overcoming the addiction cycle. I went to Overeaters Anonymous for 2 years. I journaled. I cried and vowed to start again. I tried again so many times I lost faith in myself. I didn't trust myself. I hated myself but mostly hated the food and the way that the idea that weight loss would solve my problems and create for me an idyllic world. I knew it wasn't true from the short periods of time I would hit a low weight mark through starvation. I was still conflicted and troubled inside. Shyeah. A mess. I read quite a few books where it was suggested that you should remove all restrictions from foods and eat whatever you like~only when you're hungry and stop when you are full. The idea being that when no food is off limits and you feel you are allowed to eat whatever you like whenever you are hungry, the need to binge will disappear. I have had mostly success with this thought process and my need to binge has slowly disappeared. It was very gradual, though. Through it all, I kept up with my workouts. I never became unfit. Now, I have reached a point where I am incororating the idea that I can eat whatever I like when I get with hungry with my insatiable knowledge of healthy foods. I know what is healthy and make choices daily to incorporate them into my diet but also enjoy all the foods I choose. I have been amazed at my rapid success with logging my foods into the nutrition tracker! What an eye openeron nutrition facts and calories tabulation! I have lost only five pounds and 2 people at my gym actually commented on how fit I look. I am so excited that my years spent working out might actually reveal themselves now. But, the most exciting and thrilling part is that food is finally falling into it's proper place~the background! It no longer consumes my every waking thought and I enjoy working out for the challenge! A long process to this point but the journey has made me who I am now. I am grateful for the chance to learn and grow ! =)

My Goals:
To live a healthy life and stay strong through my 40's and into my 50's. To provide a healthy example for my kids to follow.

My Program:
I have been working out at the gym in a huge variety of classes and routines which challenge my body and mind. I do aerobics 5 days per week and strength 2 days.

Personal Information:
I'm a married 40 something with 2 kids. I work 40 hours a week.

Other Information:
One book that really helped me find my balance in eating: "Intuitive Eating" by Elyse Resch&Evelyn Tribole. I highly reccommend it to anyone who has compulsive eating tendencies or who binges. A lifesaver for me!

Favorite Quotes:

1. The path is not straight. 2. Mistakes need not be fatal. 3. People are more important that achievements or possessions. 4. Be gentle with your parents. 5. Never stop doing what you care most about. 6. Learn to use a semicolon. 7. You will find love." -Marion Winik

"We find no real satisfaction or happiness in life without obstacles to conquer and goals to achieve." -- Maxwell Maltz

~ I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward. ~Thomas Alva Edison

Thanks, Pam! I can tell Chewy is already feeling better. The swelling has gone down tremendously, so I just need to keep tricking him into taking his antibiotics...and take him for rides instead of walks.

I got down on the floor with him to snuggle...and he kept eyeing me...he's so suspicious! Thought I was going to wash his foot again, or wrap it! He's so funny.

Hello Pam! Our weather last week felt pretty darn hot...but nothing like 100! We've just had some rain move in...and it is delightfully around 70 degrees. :) I do enjoy it when it's cooler. :)

Poor Chewy has an infected foot and he is on antibiotics and "floor-rest" (ha!) for a week while it heals and the swelling goes down. He's got an extra pad or fatty tumor in between the pads on his one foot, and it occasionally gets irritated, but this time his whole lower leg swelled. ruh-roh! He's pretty comfortable right now though - medicated and all sacked out

Have you seen any good movies lately? We just watched "The Duchess" with Keira Knightley...or I should say I watched it!! I thought it was good. We have Blockbuster online which is like Netflix so we enjoy watching movies at home...because we're cheap...I mean frugal!

Thanks for stopping by! I always enjoy hearing from you! Have a great week. :)

Smiling is contagious, you catch it like the flu, When someone smiled at me today, I started smiling too. I passed around the corner, and someone saw my grin - When he smiled I realized, I'd passed it on to him.

I thought about that smile, then I realized its worth, A single smile, just like mine, could travel round the earth. So, if you feel a smile begin, don't leave it undetected - Let's start an epidemic quick and get the world infected ! ! !

Hi Pam! Firstly, I really do love the LEKI fitness poles. If you jog on trails, and Grace isn't your middle name (haha, I can SO relate to that!) then these poles might be a great buy for you!

As I get older, I've noticed my balance isn't as good as it used to be - especially on uneven terrain or in sand - and that makes me more cautious because of my back and knees. The poles really boost my confidence! :)

AND! Since Spark People changed the layout of the pages...you have to look under the cut up where my intro is....I DO have all of my May exercise logged - you just have to click "Read more about Simplejoys" to find t. :)

How have you been? I see you've enjoyed your kickboxing class, but what else is up for you? Anything exciting going on this summer? I'm usually not very social...but this whole past year I've felt like I've shed a lot of my angst. It might not sound like a lot to people who are normally doing things and out among the people all the time - but for me, it's huge! :) I want to go to the zoo, maybe catch a ballgame down in Detroit, I want to canoe and hike. Who IS this person??!! :) I'm loving life right now.